Wildfires sweep south of Europe amid heat wave

BUCHAREST, Romania - Hundreds of wildfires burned across southern Europe on Tuesday as the region remained in the grip of a heat wave that has driven temperatures as high as 120 degrees.

In the Balkans, the sizzling temperatures accompanied the worst drought to strike the region in 50 years, which has already caused record crop losses since it began in late May.

Ambulances patrolled the streets in southern Romania cities to pick up people who fainted in 106-degree heat. Radio and television stations urged old people and children to stay inside.

Romanian officials expect no let up in the heat for at least a few weeks, and they urged local governments and firefighters to stay on alert and prepare water reserves.

About 100 fires still burned Tuesday in Romania, despite successful efforts by firefighters to put out 98 other fires, said Ionel Craciun of the Firefighters General Headquarters.

Nobody was injured in the Romanian fires, he said, but damage was ''considerable,'' in part because a lack of water impeded firefighters' efforts.

In Italy, hot, dry winds blowing across the southern Gargano region fanned flames that consumed hundreds of acres of forest despite repeated passes by firefighting planes dumping water.

Italy's state-run RAI television reported Monday that temperatures on the island of Sardinia approached 120 degrees. Italian meteorologists said they expect the torrid temperatures to continue at least through Saturday.

Wildfires have also raged in many areas of Croatia over the last three weeks, with some fires reaching villages and sweeping through farmers' fields. No injuries have been reported.

Firefighters in Croatia's central Adriatic town of Sibenik, where 250 acres of forest have already burned, said Tuesday they could not get to fires because the area has not yet been cleared of mines from a war fought there in 1991.

In neighboring Serbia, where temperatures climbed above 104 degrees in several cities, hospitals reported a sharp increase in patients complaining of problems related to the heat, and authorities urged people to stay indoors.